Self-supporting curtain fitting



Sept. 24, 1968 A. WEBER 3,402,421

SELF-SUPPORTING CURTAIN FITTING Filed June 2, 1964 United States Patent Office 3,402,421 Patented Sept. 24, 1968 3,402,421 SELF-SUPPORTING CURTAIN FITTING Alexander Weber, Zollikofen, near Bern, Switzerland, assignor to Dr. Hans Beer and Mrs. Emma Weber-Harisberger, trading as Awepa, Bern, Switzerland Filed June 2, 1964, Ser. No. 372,043 Claims priority, application Switzerland, June 4, 1963, 6,927/ 63 1 Claim. (Cl. 16-94) The invention relates to a self-supporting curtain tting which comprises a curtain guide rail having at least one self-supporting hollow-section part, and supports for the rail.

In self-supporting curtain fittings, rectangular metal angles have generally hitherto been used by which the curtain rail or rails are supported, and to which the individual rails are screwed or clamped. This makes it necessary for the curtain rail to be provided at suitable positions with bores for the clamping bolts, or the angle has to be provided with suitable movable clamping means matching the rail. The assembly of curtain ttings provided with such securing means, which are, moreover, frequently inadequately accessible, is a fairly complicated operation for the layman. Moreover, the assembly of the curtain tting becomes even more complicated where a plurality of curtain rails have to be secured side by side to each supporting angle, for example, one rail for a net curtain, one for a draw curtain, and one for a valance.

According to the invention, the rail with a hollow section part for engagement with the supports, the hollow section part having a longitudinal slot, at which at least one of the two rail portions by which the longitudinal slot is bounded, projects towards the other, each support being provided with at least one undercut supporting head, which is inserted into the cavity of the hollow section part of the rail mounted thereon by engagement of the projecting part of the rail in the undercut part of the head, This affords the advantage that the assembly of the curtain tting is substantially simplified and facilitated, and the adaptability to given local itting conditions is improved.

The invention is diagrammatically illustrated by way of example in the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIGURE l is a vertical sectional elevation of a curtain fitting with self-supporting rail of a rst construction mounted on a ceiling;

FIGURE 2 is a corresponding end elevation in which part of the rail is removed;

FIGURE 3 is a side elevation of a wall bracket support for one or two curtain rails of a further construction;

FIGURE 4 is a front elevation of FIGURE 3 without the rail;

FIGURE 5 is a plan view of FIGURE 3 with an angular rail; and

FIGURE 6 is a side elevation of the angular rail illustrated in FIGURE 5.

Two or more head assemblies, preferably made of a synthetic resin, for example the support 4 shown in FIG- URES l and 2, of angular section which with the upwardly extending end may, for example, be secured to the ceiling 5 of a room, whilst the forward end face is provided with a horizontally projecting supporting head 6, and is used as the mounting and securing means for a curtain rail 1, 2 or 3, which is self-supporting between the securing positions. The support 4 has two parallel side walls 7 which are inter-connected by a cross web member 8 from which the side walls project upwardly to form ribs 9. At a position between the ribs the cross-member 8 is provided with a bore 10 for a cap screw 11 by which the support 4 is secured to the ceiling 5 with the ribs 9 contacting the ceiling.

The supporting head 6 is undercut at the top and at the bottom by a horizontal groove 12 and has, for example, a curved portion extending from its end face in the direction of the grooves. The supporting head enables easy and simple tting of a self-supporting curtain rail (FIGURE 1), or 2 or 3 (FIGURE 3) which, for this purpose, is provided with an upright hollow section part 13 4which is resistant to bending in the vertical plane, and which, on the side provided with a longitudinal rail slot, is provided with two anges 14 projecting towards each other, by which flanges the slot is bounded. The mounting of the rail horizontally on the supporting `head proceeds as follows:

First, the lower or the upper flange 14 of the rail is introduced into the respectively lower or upper groove 12. The other ange 14 of the rail is then turned on the curved end face 15 of the head towards the other groove, in which it engages with snap action, merely by forcing the hollow section resiliently apart, the head being thus introduced into the cavity of the hollow section to contact the rail wall 16 opposite the longitudinal rail slot.

Depending upon the particular purpose for which the curtain rail is intended, a section part 17 `adjoining the underside of the upright hollow section part 13 may be provided in which gliders may be guided, and which has a channel 18 which is open at the bottom, and, adjoining the front of the rail wall 16, a section part 19 in which the front longitudinal side of the channel in which, for example a valance, may be held in position, is open.

In the second construction, which is illustrated in FIG- URES 3 and 4, a wall bracket support 20 comprising an arm 21 of H-section is provided, one end face of which arm is provided with a triangular flange 22 which is secured to a wall 24 by means of screw bolts 23, the other end face of the arm 21 carrying a horizontally projecting supporting head 25 of a similar construction 'as that provided on the support 4 shown in FIGURES 1 and 2. The horizontal web 26 of the section arrn 21 is provided along its length with a series of holes ,27 to permit an additional support, or, where a long arm is provided, two additional supports, to be secured to its underside by screws 28 `and nuts 29 at appropriate positions in the row of perforations, and to be removed therefrom. The upright hollow section parts 13' and 13" respectively of the curtain rails 2 and 3 mounted respectively on the supporting heads 25 and 6, are of a construction similar to that of the rail 1, the flanges 14 and 14" respectively of the sections 13' and 13" engaging in the grooves provided in the supporting heads 25 and 6 respectively.

The base of the hollow section part 13' of the rail 2 is provided with a section part 30 in which the front longitudinal side of the channel is open, and which, for example a valance, may be held in position. The front of the hollow section part 13" of the rail 3 is provided with a section part 31 in which the longitudinal front side of the channel 32 is open, in which gliders may be guided, and with two channels 33 for example for the draw cords of a draw curtain.

In the -operating position illustrated in FIGURES l and 3, in which the upright hollow section parts 13, 13 and 13 enclose the respective supporting heads 6 and 25 with snug lit, the rail sections hereinbefore described, which are preferably made of an aluminum alloy, have been found to have a high bending resistance in the vertical plane and thus to be particularly suitable self-supporting rails despite the fact that the upright hollow section part has preferably a height of :only about 17 mm.,

a width of about 8 mm., and a wall thickness of about 1 mm.

Each end face of the rail ends may terminate in a rail end piece 34, preferably made of a synthetic resin. Projecting at right angles from the end face 35 of the end piece 34, which surface 35 completely covers the end face of the rail, is a connecting tongue 36, which is pushed with snap action securely into the cavity of the upright hollow section part 13, 13 or 13".

As illustrated by way of example in FIGURES and 6, the yrail 2 provided for a valance may terminate in a corner bracket 40, advantageously made of a synthetic resin, one surfce 41 of which covers the whole end face of the rail 2, and, as in the case of the rail end piece 34, is provided with a connecting tongue 42 projecting at right angles from the surface 41. The tongue is introduced into, and may be withdrawn from, the hollow section part 13' of the rail 2 without transverse play. The corner bracket 40 (FIGURE 5) has a second covering surface 43 which extends at right angles to the first surface 41, and from which a connecting tongue 44 projects in a similar manner. A rail section 45 corresponding to the section of the rail 2 may be slipped over the tongue 44 so that it extends at right angles to the rail 2 in the -direction of the wall 24. The corner bracket 40 is provided at its lower end with a vertical bore 46 having a reducing shoulder 47 behind which the round head 48 of a glider with a curtain-fastening eyelet 50 which is xed in position, is introduced with snap action. The valance, not shown in the drawing, can thus extend from the rail 2 to the fastening eyelet 50 and along the rail sections 45 to the Wall 24, so that the curtain fitting hereinbefore described is concealed on three sides.

It will be understood that the shape of the supporting head of the supports and the shape of the upright section of the rails may vary from the shapes illustrated by way of example in the drawings. More particularly, a single undercut in the head and, if of a suitable shape, a single longitudinal flange on the rail for securing the rail in position may be suicient. The width of the head in the horizontal direction need not exceed the width of the longitudinal rail slot, so that, in certain cases, the rail may be disengaged from the head by a rotational movement.

If desired, the support 4 may be secured to an ordinary angle iron which may serve as a supporting bracket.

What I claim is:

1. A curtain fitting, comprising a first and at least one similar second support each having a main body portion, a head portion and a neck portion of smaller thickness than said main body portion and head portion and delining with the same a groove, and a hollow curtain-supporting rail having a slot of a width less than the corresponding dimension of said head portions, at least a portion of said rail being elastically deformable to allow for widening of said slot so that said head portions may be introduced through the thus widened slot and into the interior of said rail, said second support being spaced from said first support in longitudinal direction of said rail and the grooves of the respective supports being aligned with one another, the dimension of said head portions as seen in direction normal to the respective grooves being substantially equal to the interior of said hollow rail as seen in direction normal to the elongation thereof and a portion of the material bounding said slot being received in each of said grooves when said rail is secured to said supports.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,727,272 12/1955 Hankin et al. 16-93 1,488,257 3/ 1924 Kirsch. 3,090,588 5/1963 Monette 248-216 FOREIGN PATENTS 218,096 7/1924 Great Britain.

MARVIN A. CHAMPION, Primary Examiner.

J. H. MCGLYNN, Assistant Examiner. 

1. A CURTAIN FITTING, COMPRISING A FIRST AND AT LEAST ONE SIMILAR SECOND SUPPORT EACH HAVING A MAIN BODY PORTION, A HEAD PORTION AND A NECK PORTION OF SMALLER THICKNESS THAN SAID MAIN BODY PORTION AND HEAD PORTION AND DEFINING WITH THE SAME A GROOVE, AND A HOLLOW CURTAIN-SUPPORTING RAIL HAVING A SLOT OF A WIDTH LESS THAN THE CORRESPONDING DIMENSION OF SAID HEAD PORTIONS, AT LEAST A PORTION OF SAID RAIL BEING ELASTICALLY DEFORMABLE TO ALLOW FOR WIDENING OF SAID SLOT SO THAT SAID HEAD PORTIONS MAY BE INTRODUCED THROUGH THE THUS WIDENED SLOT AND INTO THE INTERIOR OF SAID RAIL, SAID SECOND SUPPORT BEING SPACED FROM SAID FIRST SUPPORT IN LONGITUDINAL DIRECTION OF SAID RAIL AND THE GROOVES OF THE RESPECTIVE SUPPORTS BEING ALIGNED WITH ONE ANOTHER, THE DIMENSION OF SAID HEAD PORTIONS AS SEEN IN DIRECTION NORMAL TO THER RESPECTIVE 